Baseball bat comprising a square cross



P 1963 F. R. SALSINGER 3,104,876

BASEBALL SING A SQUARE BAT COMPRI CROSS SECTIONAL IKING AREA Filed Nov.1960 \P/ g g 5 INVENTOR fig/WK PLSZQLSINEEE BY at? we,

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,104,876 BASEBALL BAT COMPRISING A SQUARECROSS SECTIGNAL STG AREA Frank R. Salsinger, 135 Butler St., Forty Fort,Pa. Filed Nov. 30, 1960, Ser. No. 72,675 2 Claims. (Cl. 273-72) Thisinvention relates to novel improvements in baseball bats.

The baseball bat heretofore universally used .is an elongated bat,circular in cross-section along its entire length, being somewhat widerat the striking part and narrower at the gripping part. The grippingpart of the bat handle may be wrapped with tape in some instances. Ofcourse, baseball bats vary in weight, taper, diameter of crosssection,and to some extent in length, to suit the individual needs of thebatter.

The prior-art baseball bat having a circular cross-- section along itsentire length provides a curved striking face to the ball. Because ofthis curved striking face a large number of foul-balls are bit duringeach game. It is an object of my invention to provide a baseball bathaving a flat face on the striking part of the bat whereby the batter isable to hit the ball with more control. In experiments using thebaseball bat embodying my invention it has been found that an averagebatter will be able to improve his hitting accuracy remarkably. 1Bystriking the ball with the flat surface provided by my invention thenumber of foul-balls bit during a baseball game will be considerablyreduced. Thus in a baseball game where all batters use the fiat-facedbat the number of balls lost during a game is considerably reduced, andthe players are able to hit the ball more accurately.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from thedetailed description which follows when read in conjunction With theattached drawing.

In the drawing FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a baseball bat embodyingmy invention; FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the baseball bat embodyingmy invention; FIG. 3 is a cross-section taken on FIG. 2 along line 33;FIG. 4 is a cross-section taken on FIG. 2 along line 44.

Referring to FIG. 1 reference numeral 1 indicates the striking portionof the bat having four fiat sides at right angles to each other.Attached to the bat is a handle 2 being of diameter and length suitablefor the player to grip the bat by the handle.

In overall length and weight the baseball bat of my invention iscomparable to a conventional baseball bat of circular cross-section. Inone bat embodying my invention the overall length is 35 inches. As shownin FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 a preferred embodiment of my invention has astriking portion 1 of square cross-section and a handle 2 of circularcross-section. Although the dimensions and taper of the bat may vary tosuit the individual needs of a player, in one example of my inventionthe bat is 35 inches long and tapers from 2% inches square at the outerend of the striking portion to 1 /2 inch square at the junction of thehandle and the square striking portion. The handle is approximately 1 /8inches in diameter along its entire length. In a preferred embodiment ofmy invention I have provided a finger-grip 4 on the bat handle 2 toassist the batter in holding the bat properly so that one flat surfaceof the striking portion will be presented to Patented Sept. 24, 1963 icethe ball during the batters swing. It will be understood that the shapeand arrangement of this finger-grip may be varied to suit the individualplayer. In the embodiment shown the finger grip 4 is attached to the bathandle 2 and extends along a portion of its length on one side of thehandle. The grip is provided with a series of ribs 5 and valleys 6 toaccommodate the players fingers. This finger-grip may be made of softrubber, wood, leather, plastic material, or any other suitable materialand may be attached by screws 7 as shown, or by gluing or other suitablemeans, or may be formed as an integral part of a handle duringmanufacture. This finger-grip provides means for the player to get thefeel of the bat, making it easier to present one of the fiat surfaces ofthe striking portion to the ball during the batters swing.

The preferred material for the handle and striking por- I tion of my batis hickory, or any of the other suitable hardwoods which have been usedin the past for baseball bats.

The preceding description discloses only a preferred embodiment of myinvention. Variations and adaptations within the scope of the appendedclaims will be obvious.

I claim:

1. A game bat for striking a spherical baseball of a predetermineddiameter, the bat comprising: an elongated wood striking portiondefining four equi-sized flat, planar surfaces, all of Which formstriking surfaces engageable with a baseball, the said striking portionhaving a square cross-section at any point along its length wherein allof the sides of the cross-section define the four surfaces, the lengthof the sides of the square cross-section at one end of the strikingportion being approximately 2% inches and the length of the sides at theother end of the striking portion being approximately 1 /2 inches, thestriking portion tapering linearly between the said ends; and a woodhandle portion of circular cross-section having a 1% inch diameter, thehandle being integral with the striking portion at the said other endand extending longitudinally axially away from the striking portion andthe striking portion having a length of about of the total length of thebat.

2. The bat according to claim 1 and further comprising a corrugatedfinger grip attached to the outside of and extending axially along thehandle, the finger grip accommodating the fingers of a game player toenable a predetermined accurate placement of any one of the surfaces forstriking the baseball.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS400,354 Morris Mar. 26, 1889 838,257 Kinst Dec. L1, 1906 2,026,077 TrueDec. 21, 1935 2,039,221 Hillerich Apr. 28, 1936 2,144,846 Kruspe Jan.24, 1939 2,704,668 Park Mar. 22, 1955 2,789,823 Bennett Apr. 23, 1957FOREIGN PATENTS 70,350 Austria Oct. 25, 1915 3,634 Australia Aug. 16,1932

1. A GAME BAT FOR STRIKING A SPHERICAL BASEBALL OF A PREDETERMINEDDIAMETER, THE BAT COMPRISING: AN ELONGATED WOOD STRIKING PORTIONDEFINING FOUR EQUI-SIZED FLAT, PLANAR SURFACES, ALL OF WHICH FORMSTRIKING SURFACES ENGAGEABLE WITH A BASEBALL, THE SAID STRIKING PORTIONHAVING A SQUARE CROSS-SECTION AT ANY POINT ALONG ITS LENGTH WHEREIN ALLOF THE SIDES OF THE CROSS-SECTION DEFINE THE FOUR SURFACES, THE LENGTHOF THE SIDES OF THE SQUARE CROSS-SECTION AT ONE END OF THE STRIKINGPORTION BEING APPROXIMATELY 2 1/4 INCHES AND THE LENGTH OF THE SIDES ATTHE OTHER END OF THE STRIKING PORTION BEING APPROXIMATELY 1 1/2 INCHES,THE STRIKING PORTION TAPERING LINEARLY BETWEEN THE SAID ENDS; AND A WOODHANDLE PORTION OF CIRCULAR CROSS-SECTION HAVING A 1 1/8 INCH DIAMETER,THE HANDLE BEING INTEGRAL WITH THE STRIKING PORTION AT THE SAID OTHEREND AND EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY AXIALLY AWAY FROM THE STRIKING PORTIONAND THE STRIKING PORTION HAVING A LENGTH OF ABOUT 2/3 OF THE TOTALLENGTH OF THE BAT.